A Bosnian Muslim has become the first woman to be convicted by a Bosnian court of war crimes.

Rasima Handanovic pleaded guilty in a Sarajevo court on April 30 to charges of killing ethnic Croats during the 1990s war.

Investigators say Handanovic, who served as a soldier in the Bosnian Army's Zulfikar special unit, participated in the summary executions of three civilians and three prisoners of war in the southern Bosnian village of Trusina in 1993.

Handanovic, who emigrated to the United States after Bosnia's 1992-95 war, was extradited to Bosnia-Herzegovina in December.

She is expected to receive a lighter sentence of between five and six years in jail under a plea deal in which she agreed to testify against other members of the Zulfikar unit who are currently on trial in Bosnian courts.